Instant Reaction to Budget: Most political parties critical
Most political parties were critical about the proposed budget in their initial reaction yesterday, terming it "as usual" and expressing doubts whether it would be possible to achieve the targets.
BNP standing committee member Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury in his reaction said people's livelihood and humanity were totally ignored in this budget.
He also lambasted the government keeping scope for "whitening black money",saying it is an effort to continue corruption.
Jatiya Party, the main opposition party in parliament, in its reaction said it might not be possible to fulfill the target set in the proposed budget due to the global economic turmoil following the coronavirus outbreak.
In a press conference at his office in the capital's Banani, JP Chairman and Deputy Leader of the Opposition GM Quader, however, said, the government has tried to give a public welfare-oriented budget.
"It is necessary to ensure that the allocation is spent properly for the welfare of people, by preventing corruption and waste. Only then the budget will be welfare-oriented," the JP chairman said.
Rashed Khan Menon, president of Workers Party of Bangladesh and a top leader of the AL-led 14-party alliance said the finance minister's budget proposal is still growth-based.
"It's not right to give priority to growth before people's lives," he said.
"One must think how realistic it was to set the target of GDP growth at 8.2 percent in a Covid-19 affected country amid the global economic condition," Menon said at a press release.
He said reforms in the banking sector, and pension scheme for all -- which was promised by the government -- remained absent in the budget proposal.
He also expressed surprise at the government not imposing tax on wealth and profit. "How much relief will we provide to the rich section of people?" he questioned.
Gonoforum General Secretary Reza Kibria in his reaction said the proposed budget represents an unimaginative response to an economic crisis, that called for boldness and creativity. It is an example of poorly-conceived budgeting based on delusional growth, revenue and financing projections.
Restoring confidence will be one of the most difficult challenges facing those managing the economy, he said.
"The budgeted deficit of 190 thousand crores (6 percent of GDP) is in itself not exceptionally high under the circumstances and in reference to comparable countries. If the money could be spent in a cost-effective manner with low levels of misappropriation and waste, even a higher deficit level would have been acceptable," he said.
"The problem is that at least one-fifth, a conservative estimate, of budget outlays in Bangladesh are lost through corruption."
He also said improving financial governance and tackling corruption are given lip-service in the budget statement, but "people of Bangladesh know whether such statements from this government can be taken seriously."
Communist Party of Bangladesh in its reaction said this budget is as usual, and against the interest of 99 percent people.
Bangladesh National Awami Party (NAP) in its reaction said people will not get benefit of this budget if the government fails to prevent corruption.
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